A former assistant in St. Elizabeth Medical Center’s psychiatric unit will have to register as a Level 1 sex offender after having sexual contact with a patient.

Although the patient was 23 years old and not underage, Robert Mykel’s conviction for third-degree criminal sexual act still requires him to register as a sex offender. Level 1 is the lowest of the three risk levels.

Mykel, 39, of Whitesboro was sentenced Monday in Oneida County Court to 10 years of probation, with the first six months to be spent in the Oneida County jail.

Mykel was a psychiatric assistant at the Utica hospital when he became friendly with a patient and had sex with her in February, attorneys said. The woman later reported the incident, however, reportedly feeling that Mykel had taken advantage of her.

This is the first year that such conduct was considered a crime under state law, which now states that anyone under the care of the state Office of Mental Health cannot give legal consent to have sex with any employee at its facilities.

“I’d just like to apologize for my actions to the court, especially the victim,” Mykel said to Judge Michael Dwyer.

Because Mykel’s crime did not involve any children, Dwyer dropped the terms of Mykel’s probation that would have required him to stay away from shopping malls, parks, playgrounds and other public locations commonly associated with children.